Angeles City receives 18,000 books from NGO

• Source: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/pampanga/local-news/2015/09/11/bcda-uk-firm-forge-pact-health-project-429703
• Friday, September 11, 2015

By Reynaldo G. Navales

CLARK FREEPORT -- The Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) recently inked a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with UK-based firm M Health Limited (MHL) for the implementation of a health project here.

The firm is set to conduct a study that will incorporate social health or “healthy living” with the planned development of a 160-hectare area in Clark Green City for mixed use.

BCDA president and chief executive officer Arnel Paciano Casanova said the partnership fulfills a key strategy in achieving BCDA’s vision for a healthy living environment and self-sufficient community in Clark Green City.

“MHL has the expertise, capabilities and commitment to cooperate with BCDA to jointly undertake the development of a 160-hectare healthy living community that offers a sustainable and self-sufficient community that has a balanced residential, commercial, and leisure facilities, as well as one that acknowledges that social health is the foundation for physical well-being,” Casanova said.

MHL, a leader in managing healthcare projects and services worldwide, represents the consortium of Treleaven Capital Management Limited and AWW Architects.

It has successfully delivered 150 healthcare projects over the past 30 years, in more than 50 countries, including the British Virgin Islands, Malaysia, Indonesia and Central Europe.

Under the forged MOU, MHL will conduct a pre-investment feasibility study, business plan and conceptual plan for the 160-hectare area within a period of 12 months, extendible for another 12 months.

The partnership will establish a framework that will serve as guide for the incorporation of a Joint Venture Company (JVC) with BCDA holding a 45 percent share and MHL with 55 percent share.

BCDA will assign development and leasehold rights to MHL for 50 years, renewable for another 50 years.

For its part, MHL will be responsible for the submission of a detailed development master plan of the 160-hectare area based on the Conceptual Development Master Plan being implemented by BCDA for its Clark Green City project.

The envisioned mixed-use development will feature residential, commercial, industrial and infrastructure developments.

These facilities will be harmoniously built within community squares that support face-to-face interaction--yielding inclusive community ties and social support systems that protect health.

The new development will primarily be residential in context infused with a combination retail, leisure, school and other community facilities.

This undertaking is expected to promote health and well-being in Clark Green City, alongside integrated care programs and supportive elderly care.

The BCDA seeks to do through its provision of a new model of health care that combines the efficient delivery of primary, secondary and tertiary care, while reducing the use of expensive hospital facilities.

“In pursuing this project with our experts from MHL, Clark Green City will not only be the country’s first smart and green metropolis but will carry on the order of the World Health Organization (WHO) which calls for the ‘non-segregation’ of older people and the assurance of their continuing care,” Casanova added.

MHL Chief Executive Officer Simon Lovegrove said they are delighted to work with BCDA as it builds the Philippines’ first smart, green metropolis.

“Clark Green City is an exciting development for us as it is the city of the 22nd century. This MOU is an important first step and the beginning of journey,” he said.

MHL is a company incorporated in the United Kingdom registered to carry on business as developers and managers of health care projects internationally.

It has the necessary expertise and capabilities to secure equity investment and debt for financing and commercially developing health care projects.

A flagship project of the BCDA under the administration of President Benigno Aquino III, Clark Green City is pegged as a "city in a farm" in a 9,450-hectare metropolis located at the Clark Special Economic Zone (CSEZ).

The Clark Green City is eyed to be the country’s first smart, green, and disaster-resilient metropolis which is expected to break ground in 2016.